Estonia Supports Council of Europe’s Fight Against Cybercrime

09.04.2012

The Foreign Ministry is supporting the expansion of the Council of Europe’s activities in fighting cybercrime to as many countries as possible.

According to Foreign Minister Urmas Paet, abuse of cyberspace is a global problem and international co-operation is of vital importance for ensuring cyber security. “Currently the only functioning international instrument for preventing cybercrimes is the Council of Europe’s Convention on Cybercrime. The global spread of the Convention on Cybercrime and the implementation of its principles is important to us, which is why we support the activity of the Council of Europe,” said Paet.

Foreign Minister Paet stated that in order to fight against cybercrime we need for the international understanding of the problem to be as unified as possible, and countries need to be ready to fight against cybercrime. “The Council of Europe’s convention allows countries to join that are not members of the organisation, and some countries have already taken advantage of this opportunity. However, this group of countries should become much larger,” he added.

The Foreign Ministry is supporting the Council of Europe’s Project on Cybercrime with 10 000 Euros. The project to fight cybercrime was approved by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in 2006. The project has three main purposes: to help countries prepare regulations based on the convention, provide aid to countries in strengthening their legal systems for the fight against cybercrime, and develop the capabilities of those working in law for international communication during both everyday and crisis situations.

Estonia is among the countries that initiated the development of the convention, which came into force in 2004, and its additional protocols. Today the convention has come into force in 32 countries.